We have had other similar threads so I thought this may be appropriate and it gave me a chance to try out my new team membership

I'm in Baghdad working out of the IZ, where are you?

KAF, AFG.




CHRIS

TANGOCHASER
I think Combat Diver is still over there.

Khowst, Asscrackistan

I'm still at Summerall near Bayji, Iraq. I haven't spoken to Combat Diver in a while. I think he is still over here.

I am at Summerall/K2, don't think I know tangochaser though

taji (aka camp cooke) Iraq.

Just wanted to stop through and tell you guys thank you for everything you are doing!!!!!!!!

Originally posted by the AmazingCarl I am at Summerall/K2, don't think I know tangochaser though

Shoot me an email so we can meet.

Anybody at Bagram?

Fallujah

I've been in Baghdad since April.

Can any of you'all give us a rundown of what a "normal" day on your job is like?

How about your living conditions , freetime activities , access to being able to buy any personal gear you need , etc.

I may be heading to Iraq soon as a civilian LEO contractor. Just trying to get all the heads-up I can.

Thanks

my company is in Bagram, and eventually I'll head back there when I'm done out in Khowst, but it probably wont be for a few more months.  

I'm in Kuwait right now but will shortly be up north either near Kirkuk or Samara, higher can't make up their mind but probably Kirkuk.

FOB Al Niser, Mosul bouncing between Q-West and Tal Far as well.ht

The usally Gun Fire here and their, IED's, RPG's.  

Thanks guys.

I haven't been up north yet but I can post my experience of waiting in Kuwait. I'll be in Iraq shortly though.

Well formations at 7:30am, stand there listen to info that we don't need, go to chow, eat some delicious high quality army chow then go back to the tent and go back to sleep for a few hours. The tents are nice, they are 14 man tents and the cots aren't right next to each other we have space on both sides, for those who haven't been in alot of the times the cots are all crammed together where you have two cots right next to each other and then a gap and then two more right next to each other. And the tents have an heater and a/c unit on it that works very well. Up north I hear we will be staying in what looks like a conex and there will be four soldiers in it. For freetime I suggest definately bring a good laptop for watching dvds, divx movies and for playing video games and synching up your iPod, thats the best entertainment around and we usually have a half life or call of duty game going over the wireless in the tents. The PX has some equipment like baclavas, neck gators, ammo pouches and slings, of course they aren't the best quality but hey its AAFES its not like we have a choice. The other day I was at FOB Doha in Kuwait and holy crap that place is like a garrison post back home, large hard buildings, a massive px with a hardies, pizza inn and baskin robins, no body was carrying their weapon, I was a sign for a "arms room" I was like wtf our arms room is M16 on your shoulder or under your cot. If your in a place like FOB Doha its like home but I'm in the middle of the desert, literally, all tents, only a few modular buildings and an airstrip, and when I go up north it'll be in the middle of a desert too, Doha is right now a town, I couldn't believe how nice it was there, it's like they weren't even in a imminent fire zone.

Quoted: Can any of you'all give us a rundown of what a "normal" day on your job is like? How about your living conditions , freetime activities , access to being able to buy any personal gear you need , etc. I may be heading to Iraq soon as a civilian LEO contractor. Just trying to get all the heads-up I can. Thanks

Here was my day, pretty normal.

0700 woke up some engineers and got them linked up with a convoy to their home base south of here.

0800 convoy left.

0830 went to chow.

0900 went to another unit on the FOB and borrowed a fork lift. Moved a large roll of concertina wire from Gate 1 to Gate 3. Also moved a bunch of pickets and 2 more rolls of wire for an afternoon mission.

0930 picked up my replacement to show him my daily activities. Inspected the barriers KBR was filling for me.

1000 coordinated for an M88 track vehicle and the Base Reaction Force to meet me at Gate 3 at 1330.

1130 went to lunch.

1330 met the BRFV and the 88 at gate three along with 3 soldiers. BRF secured the area immediately ourtside gate 3 while the 88, the soldiers and myself (in my Polaris Range) drove outside the perimeter to install some large "Texas" barriers on the road leading to our gate. M88 pushes barriers into final position and returns to FOB. Soldiers begin putting up concertina wire around barriers.

1345 BRF fires warning shots at a truck that refused to stop. We all shit our pants as we are standing exposed out on the road putting up wire. (Thanks for the warning guys).

1430 we finish half the wire and move back the the safety of the base. Don't want to push our luck outside the perimeter.

1500 sent out suicide bomber profile to all units along with latest BOLO (be on the look out)reports.

1530 checked in with the S2 for any new intel.

1630 took a nap cause I can.

1900 woke up and popped in a movie.

2200 got on the internet and started surfing.

2303 typed this message.

And going to bed as soon as I type this.

Anaconda, Iraq.

NTM

My morning started yesterday at 0100 during a raid.  We smacked open a house to look for someone.  Damned demo didn't work (primary or secondary) so we had to tap the door open with the ram (the old fashioned way).  Can't tell you how it went inside, but we ended up leaving about an hour later.  Got back to camp, just in time to miss the midnight meal, which closes at 0200.

Gonna hafta wait until breakfast.  It's cool though, 'cause we got a late call.  Nobody has to roll out of the rack until 1200 if we don't want to because of the raid.

Right.

About 1000 I get a knock, El-Tee tells me I have to get my squad ready for movement by 1130, we have to escort some Iraqi Commandos someplace.  OK.

We get out there was that contact? naw, just some accidental discharges from the commandos.  We escort the yokels from point A to B and then back to the FOB we go.  Cool, easy day so far.  

Nice weather, only about 30 degrees what with the wind-chill from the top of my vehicle.. maybe about 20 or so... who knows?  

I get back to my room to find that my heater that I bought isn't working, room is as cold as a tomb.  Turns out the plug that I wired onto it to fit the wall outlet melted, lucky the room didn't burn down.  I just have a puddle of yellow pastic melted to my floor and duffle bag now, wonderful.

I go pull out a spare plug, and strip the wires down again, install the plug and here comes the heat!  wonderful, I have heat again.  I don't trust it to stay this safe though... I leave it unplugged and off when I leave.  It's a good heater, traded my sisters' email address and $10 for it from a Turkish carpet trader.  Sis is gonna have to take one for the team here, he is in a word: hairy.

I grab a to-go plate from the chow hall because by now I only have to time to eat on the run, we have to complete our regularly-scheduled patrols for the day now.  Three hours in a Stryker.

Anyways, we get our patrols done, more shooting and kicking doors open.  Search houses, leave "Sorry we missed you while you were out" notices sometimes.  Some of it's pretty cool, you get inda bored sometimes though.  

We get back to the FOB, grab chow before we get another FRAGO... only to find out that we're gonna get one anyway.  We've been tasked to go and coordinate security for a convoy that has to make some rounds in the city.  Cool, riding shotgun, not exactly glamorous... really, really boring.

We end up going to a Kurdinsh compound, they kick back with us for a while, give us some chai (really strong tea) and we do a little trading.  We get to know each other a little better than before, then we're off again.

We get back to the camp (be it ever so humble there's no place like the FOB), and I let my guys go with the next day's patrol schedule already published.  

Damn, I have to go round them back up because we got some info that a meeting is going down and we have to go raid a mosque.  Raids are always fun, my squad practically materializes before my eyes.  They have their instructions and we stage for departure.  Cramming the normal load of passengers plus four more is a tight fit for any vehicle.  Imagine that, now imagine sitting there for about a half-hour on one leg.  It sucks.  And I had a good seat.

We punch out for our raid, I push out our demo team to breach the gate and doors to the mosque.  My demo team, I call them the Bang Brothers, are always hopped up to blow shit up.  No such luck this time either, bad shock tubing.  Might be a bad shipment.  Don't have time to think about that too much, I told them if it has a lock on it... they get to shoot it off with the 12-gauge.  They have a friend from another squad tag along so they can double up on the fun.  It gets loud and stays that way for a while.  

The place is cleared and we're given the go ahead to search for the normal anti-coaltion stuff.  Here it turns out to be printed propoganda.  Lots of it.  We ened up taking a small sample, only a few bags of it.  CDs, DVDs, audio cassettes, newspapers, magazines, flyers... you name it they had it.  

We jet back to the FOB, it's about 2230 now (that's 10:30 pm National Gurad Time)  I had two meals today, not bad.  Maybe tomorrow I will have some time to actually do some PT.  I just logged off of the internet with my wife, who misses me.  A lot.  After two hardship tours back-to-back you'd think she'd get smart and leave me.... too bad she loves me too much to do that, lucky for me though.  This is the third time though, she's just getting better at dealing with it.  Other wives' are sending cookies, she's sending me new assault gloves, she knows how fast I go through them.  While other people are getting toilet paper, she's making sure that I have a polartec blanket because she knows that the desert is fucking cold sometimes.  And is content to do all of this in return for a few emails and a smile on a computer screen every once in a while.

Tomorrow I have another day of raids, ambushes, patrols, shaking hands, passing out candy, shouting, shooting (mostly warning shots and doors hopefully), joking, sleeping, eating... being.  It's not a life right now, it's just survival.  But you get the picture.

Tweeter, Mosul

My Son in Law is there until March.

Quoted: Anybody at Bagram?

Baghdad, Iraq in the IZ/GreenZone, over by CP12.

I no longer post from the 'front'  I offended a retired marine who said I wasn't committed to duty if I was able to have internet access while deployed.

That's bullshit. Anybody who is where you are is committed to duty. No need to listen to anybody who says otherwise.

I'm currently in Kuwait, but will soon be moving North to Iraq.

Not a whole lot going on right now since we got here on Christmas Weekend. It's terrible we had to leave so close to Christmas, but other soldiers were able to come home for christmas because of it.

I'm waiting to hear about my neighbor, who is also in the ARNG. He might be coming back for a second tour, poor guy. He just had a little boy and he's not even a year old.

I'll be checking in periodically.

Train for war, pray for peace.


SilentWarrior1

I am in Kuwait right now. I have another ar15'r in my unit and we will be traveling to an undisclosed location at an undisclosed time (soon)into Iraq. LOL One of us will drop a line as to where as soon as we are situated and allowed to. I have seen a couple members close to our new home in the postings.

Quoted: I'm back in Iraq as of a couple of days ago.

Hey send me an e-mail will you? I'm thinking of trying out for your company once my current contract is up. Are you back in your previous AO? Ever get to Baghdad?

FOB Anaconda, Balad.
Been here about a month now.
This place is pretty built up, can't really complain as I'm not living inside a tent, have actual porcelin shitters instead of porta johns (though they're still around)  electricity and hot showers. It's much better than I was expecting.

Thanks you guys- Be safe

I just got back from Balad on 30 Dec... I never thought of logging on from there! The internet was miserably slow anyway.

I know Frontsight! is a civvie contractor in Iraq......I'll let him tell you where, but his location has been mentioned.

SRM

THANKS TO ALL WHO SERVE....Either in uniform or out

Hi I'm in Iraq.  This is my second time here.  Hope to be home soon.

Smalls
Cpl of Marines

you guys keeps your heads down and moral up.  semper fi ALL OF YOU NO MATTER WHAT BRANCH.

I'm at BIAP right now, I make trips up to anaconda everyonce in awhile and patrol all over the place it seems.  This is round 2 for me.  I hear alot of you talking about civ contractors.  If anyone has any info on these jobs this is what I want to do after I'm done with this tour.  Let me know and I'll give you my email.  Thanks

Quoted: I'm at BIAP right now, I make trips up to anaconda everyonce in awhile and patrol all over the place it seems.  This is round 2 for me.  I hear alot of you talking about civ contractors.  If anyone has any info on these jobs this is what I want to do after I'm done with this tour.  Let me know and I'll give you my email.  Thanks

They are a good company and have plenty of work for the right people

www.blackwatersecurity.com/dospsd.html

Thanks alot for the websites I copied them down and will give them a try in about 9 months.

Thanks a lot my friends for all your help.  Stay safe!